Jeff Bezos Pilots a Giant Robot It was 13-feet tall and made him feel like Sigourney Weaver.
This story originally appeared on PCMag
Giant mecha robots have been a common site in Japanese animation for decades. They've also featured in some of the most memorable films, including Aliens and much more recently Avatar. Now, Amazon owner Jeff Bezos got to pilot one on stage at a robotics conference, and he enjoyed every minute of it.
According to The Verge, the robot is manufactured by South Korean company Hankook Mirae Technology and is called Method-2. It was present at the invite-only MARS conference which Amazon runs. It's dedicated to talking about machine learning, home automation, space exploration and of course, robots.
As the tweet below shows, Jeff Bezos was more than happy to be piloting the 13-foot robot, stating "Why am I feeling so much like Sigourney Weaver."
@JeffBezos "Why do I feel so much like #sigourneyweaver ?" @amazon #MARS2017 #openpodbaydoors ?? pic.twitter.com/HRRzmQtZbh
— Caleb Harper (@calebgrowsfood) March 20, 2017
The robot movement is limited to arms only, but as the video included below shows, Method-2 is capable of walking, too. When it all comes together then anyone who has watched Patlabor knows what probably comes next.
With plans to eventually send humans to Mars, mech robots such as this could certainly come in handy once on the surface. Building a habitat will be no easy task and astronauts will need to wear some kind of suit in order to survive while they work. Why not make that suit a mecha and allow them to work on a much bigger scale?